Template User Instructions iii
Microsoft® Operations Framework
Planning for Software-plus-Services:
A MOF Companion Guide
Published: April 2009
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Guide Title iii
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Planning for Software-plus-Services: A MOF Companion Guide 5
Contents
Introduction 1
Intended Audience 1
About MOF 4.0 1
About MOF Companion Guides 1
Goals of the Software-plus-Services Companion Guide 1
Not in Scope 2
Where This Guide Fits Within MOF 3
Feedback 4
Software-plus-Services: an Overview 5
Traditional Software vs. Software-plus-Services 5
Software-plus-Services in More Depth 6
Key Benefits and Trade-offs of Using Software-plus-Services 7
Step 1: Identify Software-plus-Services Opportunities 8
Determine Business and Financial Implications 8
Activities and Considerations 11
Step 2: Determine the Impact of Software-plus-Services on the Business 14
Identify Business Requirements and Constraints 14
Identify Technical Requirements and Constraints 15
Determine How Reliability and Company Policies Will Be Affected 15
Activities and Considerations 17
Step 3: Select a Service Provider 19
Determine Provider Viability from a Business Perspective 19
Determine Provider Viability from a Technical Perspective 20
Activities and Considerations 22
Next Step: Prepare for the New Service 24
Appendix A: Key Roles 30
Management Accountability 30
Architecture Accountability 31
Service Accountability 31
Appendix B: Key Terms 33
Appendix C: Software-plus-Services Models 34
Technical Considerations That Define an Application’s Maturity Level 34
Technical Considerations for Examining a Multi-Tenant Model 36
Acknowledgments 38
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Planning for Software-plus-Services: A MOF Companion Guide 5
Introduction
This guide takes readers through the process of researching and planning the implementation of a software-plus-services strategy. Initial steps focus on identifying a delivery model that best suits the individual needs of the business; subsequent sections concentrate on finding a qualified service provider, then planning for the implementation itself. This guidance uses Microsoft® Operations Framework (MOF) 4.0 processes to identify the right services, the pertinent considerations, and the initial preparations for cost-effective implementation and operations.
Intended Audience
This guide is intended for use by business decision makers and the IT pros who will be directly involved in or affected by the implementation of a software-plus-services strategy.
About MOF 4.0
Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) 4.0 is concise guidance that helps IT improve service quality while reducing costs, managing risks, and strengthening compliance. MOF defines the core processes, activities, and accountabilities required to plan, deliver, operate, and manage IT services throughout their lifecycle. The MOF guidance encompasses all of the activities and processes involved in managing an IT service: its conception, development, operation, maintenance, and—ultimately—its retirement.
MOF organizes IT activities and processes into service management functions (SMFs), which provide detailed processes and outcomes related to a series of IT disciplines. Each SMF is anchored within a lifecycle phase and contains a unique set of goals and outcomes that support the objectives of that phase. For more information about SMFs, visit www.microsoft.com/mof.
About MOF Companion Guides
MOF companion guides are intended to help business and technical decision makers and IT pros perform IT-related activities effectively and cost-efficiently. Each guide focuses on a specific activity and applies MOF 4.0 principles. Each guide topic is associated with a particular MOF phase and SMF; readers are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the relevant core MOF material before using the guides.
Goals of the Software-plus-Services Companion Guide
This guide helps answer the following questions:
· Is a software-plus-services strategy right for our business?
· What types of software-plus-services offerings make sense for our organization’s needs?
· How do we go about selecting a service provider?
· After we have selected the plan and the provider, how do we prepare for implementation?
The following table describes the outcomes and specific measures of this guide.
Table 1. Outcomes and Measures of This Guide
Outcome / Measures /An understanding of the potential opportunities, benefits, and risks of adopting the software-plus-services delivery model. / · Identification of key business drivers, objectives, constraints, and other considerations that can be used in developing a business case.
A decision to pursue evaluation of an outsourced software-plus-services delivery solution versus maintaining the processes on-premises. / · Business case that outlines the potential benefits, service delivery costs, trade-offs, risks, and values that can be realized.
· Supporting rationale and financial justification that articulates the alignment/linkages between business stakeholders’ needs, IT’s software delivery sourcing strategy, and assumptions factored into the business case.
A clear set of vendor-evaluation criteria for selecting a software-plus-services provider. / · A list of key questions to ask potential vendors about their service model and capabilities for delivering software-plus-services to enterprise customers.
· Vendor-scoring sheets completed across all service delivery and support functions, business case analyses conducted, and vendor references from existing clients checked.
· Control matrices used to identify and prioritize potential risks are supported by recommendations for mitigating those risks.
Vendor contract preparations and negotiations. / · Due diligence activities completed before executing any contracts.
· Financial linkages between vendor payments and penalties established, and the software-plus-services provider’s adherence to the service level agreement (SLA) performance and contract requirements built into the agreements.
· A well-defined governance model and vendor management process related to the outsourced software-plus-services delivery project.
Not in Scope
Other guides are available from Microsoft that provide additional, more detailed attention to the adoption of specific services. Notably, after the business decision maker targets a specific software-plus-services solution (for example, Microsoft Exchange Online), the technical decision maker can turn to a specific Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guide for further assistance.
Where This Guide Fits Within MOF
The core MOF 4.0 content (found at www.microsoft.com/mof) discusses the complete IT service lifecycle and provides guidance that is practical and relevant for all IT activities. This software-plus-services companion guide focuses on how the adoption of software-plus-services relates to a specific component of the MOF IT service lifecycle: the Plan Phase.
Plan Phase
Figure 1. The Plan Phase of MOF
The goal of the Plan Phase is to aid the organization in continually planning for and optimizing its IT service strategy. Its deliverable is a strategy that helps produce services that are valuable and compelling, predictable and reliable, compliant with policies and directives, and adaptable to the changing needs of the business.
Table 2 lists the SMFs included in the Plan Phase.
Table 2. SMFs in the Plan Phase
SMF / Purpose /Business/IT Alignment / · Helps better align business and IT strategy to ensure that IT services provide business value.
· Provides an understanding of the fundamental process steps involved and describes the context of aligning business and IT goals, developing an IT service strategy, identifying an IT portfolio of work, and establishing methods of keeping business and IT aligned.
Reliability / · Helps IT understand, set targets, and measure service reliability.
Policy / · Helps the IT organization determine the areas that require policy creation.
· Provides a method for policy creation, validation, publishing, enforcement, evaluation, review, and maintenance.
· Helps the IT organization remain in compliance with directives.
Financial Management / · Provides an understanding of the fundamental processes and activities involved and describes the context of financial management in terms of risk management and value realization.
· Addresses how to establish service requirements and plan budget, manage finances, and perform IT accounting and reporting.
The following graphic illustrates the interrelationship among the Plan Phase SMFs.
Figure 2. The interrelationship of the Plan Phase SMFs
Feedback
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Software-plus-Services: an Overview
Finding the right solutions to meet business needs gets more complex as the ecosystem of business and technology becomes more diverse. This guide helps you address the questions that must be answered before you take advantage of changes in technology and services.
When considering a delivery system for software, businesses have several models from which to choose: on-premises, “cloud”-based (IT-related services provided over the Internet, also known as software as a service, or SaaS), and a “hybrid” combination that Microsoft calls software-plus-services. Software-plus-services is an industry shift that combines Internet services with complementary traditional software that runs within the enterprise to deliver more compelling business opportunities and service delivery options.
A hybrid delivery model allows businesses the freedom to choose software services based on their IT strategies and specific needs. The services included in the software-plus-services approach are integrated together and aggregated using a service-oriented architecture approach.
From a business manager’s perspective, software-plus-services can be the best of both worlds: The business benefit can be realized at a cost that is proportional to use (or even free), with no additional or up-front capital investment in IT resources. Although the business is best placed to determine how well the service solves the business problem, unless IT is included in the discussion, many of the wider implications for enterprise IT—the hidden costs of software services adoption—will be missed.
Business leaders and decision makers who are considering software-plus-services need to evaluate the benefits against their business’s requirements, which include service level guarantees, ownership of data, identity management, security, privacy, governance, and compliance.
Traditional Software vs. Software-plus-Services
Software-plus-services represents a major shift in the way individuals and businesses use software. Users will notice changes in the following areas:
· User experience. The traditional software end-user experience centered on a single device: the computer. Software-plus-services supports a large array of items, including browsers and devices of all types, and the user can ideally expect a consistent, seamless experience across all those devices.
· Delivery. With software-plus-services, businesses can choose how they get their software: delivered in a box, hosted by a third party, or delivered as an online service.
· Federation. The federated business world is a world in which a business doesn’t own and operate every component—rather like the Internet itself. Federation provides flexibility and agility—and therefore, business benefits—from loosely coupled processes. Due to the shared and somewhat open nature of federation, responsibilities for managing and administration must be coordinated, not centrally provided. For example, identity and access rights will be burdensome if agreements and role-based models are not shared across federating partners.
· Composition. The federated business world also ushers in a new model of development: Composition is the ability to build solutions that span a variety of assets not owned and operated by a single enterprise.
· Business models. New economic models in the software-plus-services world include transactions, subscriptions, advertisements, and micro-transactions. The idea of customers buying a shrink-wrapped box of software, installing and configuring it, and then running it until a newer version is available is rapidly becoming outdated. Instead, acquiring new software and services becomes a more complex and rapidly changing interaction. The range of IT connection points and transaction types are broadening.
Software-plus-Services in More Depth
Software-plus-services provides more than just a third hosting option (in addition to on-premises and cloud-based); it also affords businesses the ability to host only certain portions of an application or service. In the software-plus-services world, services are building blocks, attached or finished.
Building block services provide low-level capabilities that developers can leverage when building a composite application. These services exist in the cloud.
Attached services provide a higher level of functionality than building block services. Attached services are most useful when attached to some underlying software or service asset. Enterprise and ISV applications leverage attached services in order to add functionality.